Knox College has deliberately chosen not to renew the contract of Professor Brandy Wilcox, Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern Languages/German. Brandy has been at Knox since 2022, and has in that time not only introduced several engaging, creative new classes (which attract more students than there are spaces in the class), worked with Professor Todd Heidt to rewrite the structure of the German curriculum, and expanded to teaching French in addition to German, but has also had a profound impact on and developed meaningful relationships with many, many of her students. The depth of her care for students' wellbeing as well as education goes above and beyond. Despite all of this, Knox is prepared to remove her, a professor who in only three years at Knox has had such a significant positive impact for students across the school, whether they are German majors or have no prior interest in the subject. We want to bring attention to Knox's failure to recognize and support an incredibly strong force of learning, growth, and passion in its community. Brandy's students have repeatedly demonstrated how important these qualities of hers are to us and our Knox experience, by earnest emails, by filling her classes to capacity, by voting her the Senior Toast speaker for the Class of 2025. We, as Knox students, alumni, and community members, refuse to continue to be ignored.

We demand that Knox reconsider not renewing Brandy Wilcox's contract, and at the very least, shift their focus towards what the students actually want. It's time for the college that claims to care about its students to actually show that it does. Knox has been quietly removing people such as Brandy in spite of protest from the students. They tell us to "just talk to them about problems" but then remove the people who actually listen to our concerns. We will not sit idly by as Knox makes one of its biggest mistakes and removes one of the most important people to the Knox community.

Brandy Wilcox is the embodiment of what it means to be a teacher. She gets students to be excited about the topics that she teaches. She always acts with confidence, empathy, and humility. She cares deeply about every one of her students and would do anything for them. She is an expert in her field, and she is able to use her expertise to meet every student where they’re at. She works with students directly to brainstorm ideas, develop strategies, and solve problems with projects and with life in general. She makes her classrooms as accessible, safe, and fun as possible. She makes learning fun and exciting by being excited about the topic as well. Her classes are talked about by excited students all year round, and many of them fill way past capacity. She knows how to meet every student where they are and adapt anything in the class to make it be the best learning experience for everyone. So many students would have never taken a German class, but because of Brandy they are German majors and minors. Brandy has made so many of us excited to learn, come to class, and do our homework (And that’s saying something). We have learned so much from her and by not allowing her to continue her work, Knox is failing its students and its faculty. 

We will not stop fighting this until Knox recognizes that it needs to start caring about its students and its professors.